The biblical concept of virgin birth means that Jesus had no earthly father, but was conceived through the power of the Holy Spirit. This narrative that Mary was Christ’s only parent is found only in the Gospel accounts of Matthew and Luke.
Early Christian philosophers such as Justin Martyr, Ignatius, and Tertullian affirmed the virgin birth of Jesus. For example, Justin recognized that the birth of Christ was already familiar in societies familiar with Greek and Roman deities.
Still, the virginal conception of Christ seems strange to the modern audience — both Christians and non-Christians. First, it isn’t supported by the science of reproduction, and second, it is rarely mentioned in the Bible.
That said, how would the original audience react to the virgin birth of Christ? And did they question the possibility of a virgin giving birth?
Why early Christians didn’t find the virgin birth of Christ strange
By the 2nd century, the early Christian church accepted the virgin birth of Christ. This belief was enshrined in the Apostle’s Creed and Nicene’s Creed, written around A.D. 300. It also remained largely unchallenged for more than 500 years until the Age of Enlightenment in the 18th century.
As mentioned, Justin Martyr (A.D. 100-165) believed that Christians and non-Christians of his time should tolerate the virginal conception of Jesus. He wrote to the Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius and other philosophers, citing that Christ’s virgin birth was not different from other births among Greco-Roman heroes and gods.
This narrative may seem unusual today, but it would have been familiar to the early Christians. In the ancient Mediterranean, there were many similar stories of legendary “heroes” and gods born through divine conception. For example, in Greco-Roman mythology, sons of God such as Hercules, Alexander the Great, Bacchus, Plato, and Romulus, among many others, were born by mortal mothers.
People in ancient Egypt and Babylon believed their rulers were “beneficent gods” — gods upon earth. For instance, the Mesopotamian god Tammuz was the son of the god Ea, and a virgin mother named Ishtar. In India, Krishna is the human form of Vishnu, born by a mortal virgin called Devaki.
So stories of virginal conception were not odd in the era of early Christians. Christ’s birth by the Virgin Mary was not entirely alien.
The biblical account of Christ’s virgin birth
The Bible rarely talks about the virgin birth of Jesus. As mentioned, this narrative appears only in Matthew 1:18-25 and Luke 1:26-38, written about A.D. 85-90. In Matthew, when Mary was engaged to Joseph, she became “pregnant through the Holy Spirit.” The author links this birth to the Old Testament prophecy in Isaiah 7:14.
But most early Christians in the Roman Empire outside Judea knew the Bible in the Greek version (Septuagint) — not in the original Hebrew version. When the writer of Matthew quotes Isaiah, he uses the Greek version that uses the word “Parthenos,” which commonly translates to “virgin.” However, the Hebrew version uses the word “almah,” which translates to “young woman.” So to the early Christians using the Greek version, the birth of Jesus to the virgin Mary was Isaiah’s prophecy unfolding.
But is the doctrine of virgin birth a mistranslation? Probably not. These terms mostly meant the same thing in both Greek and Hebrew versions. And the author of Luke also uses the same phrase, “Parthenos,” without mentioning the prophecy by Isaiah.
The divinity of Christ
The virgin birth of Jesus remains a fundamental doctrine in Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant churches. The Quran also accepts this belief, though it denies the concept of Jesus as the Second Person in the Trinity.
For early Christians, the virginal conception also upheld the virtue and purity of Mary. It also cemented the doctrine that Jesus was the son of God and Mary the chosen Mother of God. Before this, there were several arguments during the 2nd century: Was Christ a human being until he was baptized? Was he a half-human and half-God? Or was Jesus fully human and fully divine?
By the end of the 2nd century, most Christians believed Christ was fully human and divine. Today, some sections believe the virgin birth of Jesus is open to translation, while others deny it altogether.
Still, most modern theologians reiterate St. Augustine’s words about Christ’s birth. “A virgin conceives, yet remains a virgin: a virgin is heavy with child; a virgin brings forth a child, yet she is always a virgin. Why are you amazed at this, O man? It was fitting for God to be born thus [that way] when He became man.”
